A GP who had been forced to stop working for a year owing to illness, has received a £38,000 redress payment relating to incorrectly withheld insurance-policy benefits, following an intervention by BMA partners Chase de Vere Medical and Dental.
Despite being in receipt of income-protection payments during his rehabilitation, he was told by his original insurer that he would no longer continue to receive payments through his income-protection policy on returning to work, despite no longer being able to work full-time.
Stopped work
The Northern Ireland GP, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he had been forced to cease practising several years ago owing to a critical illness.
Despite recovering, to the extent he was able to make a phased return to work, his income dropped by nearly a half.
He said: ‘While I was off sick, I received the entitled benefit. Upon return to work (phased return), I received rehabilitation benefit for a year. I was then told that the benefit would stop after this period. At that time, I did enquire about the reasons for this, to be told that this was due to the terms and conditions of my policy.
‘My health problems have never allowed me to return back to full-time employment, which means I never managed to make up for the income deficit.’
Assessment error
After attending a Chase de Vere webinar and then meeting with one of the company’s advisers, Chase de Vere determined that an error had been made by the insurer when assessing the original claim.
The GP subsequently received a redress payment of more than £38,000 and a new substantial monthly income protection benefit to supplement his earned income going forward until his planned retirement at the age of 60.
He said: ‘I am happy to confirm that a mistake had been made by the insurance company – they have in the meantime readjusted the payments owed. The company has apologised and has ensured that a process has been put in place to avoid such error in the future.’